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 | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Ownership | |
| Owner | British Sky Broadcasting |
| History | |
| Launched | 3 October 1994 |
| Closed | 30 April 1999 |
Sky Soap was a British and Irish satellite television channel operated byBritish Sky Broadcasting devoted to American and Britishsoap operas that includeEmmerdale Farm,Take the High Road,Families andAlbion Market.
WhenSky Channel was launched on the Astra satellite on 5 February 1989, the daytime schedule was overhauled and included a block of five soaps. The first, starting at 11.30am fromAustralia,The Sullivans, which was also still airing in someITV regions. Next were fourAmerican daytime soaps –Another World, which had been airing on the channel since 1987, started at 12.00pm; followed byGeneral Hospital from 12.55pm; andAs the World Turns at 1.50pm and finally,Loving in a regular 2.45pm slot.[1] A sixth soap opera,The Young Doctors, was another Australian serial also being broadcast on ITV. Sky Channel initially aired it in an early evening slot at 5.00pm, before switching to mid-afternoon after 6 months, and then finally, at 10:30am, from 1990.[2]
The network changed its name to Sky One on 31 July 1989.The Sullivans,General Hospital andAs the World Turns were all dropped, and in November 1990, newer American daytime soaps were added to the line-up:The Bold and the Beautiful andThe Young and the Restless were both inherited fromBSB'sGalaxy channel[3] following the corporate merger of the two companies, although neither were retained once the 3-year contract with BSB expired in 1993. In February 1991, Sky boughtSanta Barbara, which wasanother soap opera originally broadcast on theITV network. By 1993, with the addition of Australian soapsE Street andParadise Beach to the schedules, as well as daytime repeat runs of American primetime series,St Elsewhere andFalcon Crest, the block of daily soap operas on Sky One ran from 10.30am through to 3.30pm.
With the success of Sky One's daytime soap opera block, it was decided in 1994 to create a new, dedicated channel, and Sky Soap began broadcasting on 3 October 1994 from theAstra 1C satellite on weekdays between 8.00am and 12.00pm.[4] The original line-up on the channel consisted entirely of American daytime soaps: a repeat run of the first season ofLoving which originally aired on Sky One;Peyton Place (originally aired on ITV, and was replaced bySanta Barbara); plus, a new serial to UK viewers,Guiding Light, premiered, andAs the World Turns returned, having aired on Sky One in 1989. Finally, current episodes ofAnother World, were moved across from Sky One.
The channel didn't attract viewers, and so the broadcast hours were changed to between 12.00pm and 4.00pm. By 1997, Sky Soap was broadcasting fromAstra 1B, and the hours were extended to 11.00am to 4.00pm. The only American daytime soaps airing by then wereAs the World Turns andGuiding Light.
Old episodes of British soaps were added to the line-up from 1 November 1996, beginning withEmmerdale Farm andTake the High Road. A full run ofFamilies was shown from 1 September 1997 until 26 November 1998, withAlbion Market then shown from 27 November 1998 to 15 April 1999.Crown Court repeats began on 16 April 1999, just fourteen days before the channel closed.
Poor viewing figures following the launch of Sky Digital led to the channel's closure on 30 April 1999.
